LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 70 – Would You Be My Partner?
On that day, Althea left her room alone as promised, in order to go out into the town with Siegfried. Today, it was really just the two of them, without Laila or Curio accompanying them.
It all started when Althea mentioned she wanted to give a graduation present to both Regalus and Siegfried. Upon hearing this, Siegfried suggested they go out together to get the gifts.
When Althea arrived at the school gates, she saw Siegfried already waiting and hurriedly ran over to him.
"I'm so sorry for making you wait, Your Highness."
"No, I just got here myself, so don't worry about it. More importantly... today, please just call me Sieg, not Your Highness or brother."
"Understood. Then... I will call you Sieg."
"... Alright, and can I call you Althea today? If so, I can use another—"
"No, Althea is fine."
With a smile, Althea responded, and Siegfried, looking pleased, extended his hand and said,
"Alright, then Althea, let's get going."
Althea hesitated a bit before taking his hand, and together, they headed out into the town of the Ecclesiastical Congregation of Sacraments Principality.
The first place they went to was a shop that dealt in magic stones. The only shop in the principality that did so was well-known among students for customizing purchased stones into desired shapes.
Though it was a common choice for a gift, Althea planned to add a special touch to the customized magic stones to make them unique.
Magic stones are imbued with magical power, and the type of magic power depends on the stone's color, as taught at the academy.
Typically, magic stones are used as various sources of power, but pieces too small for such use are kept as they are and used for accessories. These fragments can enhance magical power for those who possess magic, and they can be used for offensive or support magic according to their color, regardless of whether the user has magic or not. However, the downside of using them as accessories is that once the magic in the stone is depleted, it shatters.
The magic stone shop had a variety of beautifully shining stones. Althea chose one purple and one blue stone, the colors matching Regalus's and Siegfried's eyes, respectively.
After purchasing the stones, she requested the shopkeeper to customize them. The purple stone would be made into a pair of earrings, and the blue stone into a pendant as per Siegfried's request.
While Althea was making her request, Siegfried also seemed to be talking to the shopkeeper about something. When he returned, he told Althea,
"They'll be ready in a week. We’ll have to come back to pick them up."
Thinking he was just confirming the pickup date, Althea reassured him.
"Seems so. But it’s okay, I can come alone to get them."
"Why? It’s dangerous to go alone, so I'll come with you. Besides, one of them is my graduation present, right?"
"That's true, but I can’t give it to you as it is. I need to add a final touch."
"A final touch?"
"Yes, but what I’ll do is a secret. It’s nothing bad, so please look forward to it."
Seeing Althea's smile, Siegfried sighed lightly and said,
"... When you say it like that, I guess I have no choice but to wait patiently. But you mustn't go alone. Take Laila with you."
Thinking Siegfried was acting like her brother Regalus, Althea laughed and agreed.
After leaving the magic stone shop, they went to a café said to be the most popular in Seigrit Principality. Although it was a bit early for lunch, they were seated right away due to the timing.
"I've always wanted to come here. A friend highly recommended it, but it’s usually so crowded that I couldn’t get in. Maybe because we’re a bit early today, we got in quite smoothly."
As Althea looked around excitedly, Siegfried watched her curiously. At the academy, Althea usually behaved calmly and seemed reserved, but she was naturally an adventurous young lady who loved climbing trees. Her lively behavior now was her true self, which Siegfried was happy to see.
After ordering light meals and sweets, Siegfried started to speak.
"Actually, I have a favor to ask..."
"From me?"
She had an idea of what was coming, having overheard her brother talking about it, but she pretended not to know as she had promised her brother.
Oh no... I’m not good at pretending... I hope he doesn’t notice...
She glanced at Siegfried, who seemed nervous about what he was about to say and didn’t notice her unease.
Just as she felt relieved, Siegfried, with a determined look, suddenly took her hand and said,
"Althea, will you be my partner for the graduation party?"
She had expected it, but it was supposed to be a simple request to the 'sister of his friend.' Yet, he asked her with a reddened face.
Could it be, brother Sieg has...
Her face turned red as she considered the possibility, and she nodded while looking down.
Immediately, Siegfried let go of her hand and, looking immensely relieved, said, "Good...," and held his head in his hands.
Feeling a bit lonely from the sudden release of her hand and embarrassed by her own fluttering heart, Althea stood up to hide her reddening face.
"Excuse me, I need to go to the ladies' room for a moment."
Brother Sieg is simply looking for a partner who won’t cause trouble… He has no other intentions. I was just startled because he grabbed my hand suddenly.
Trying to calm the strange, fluttering feeling in her chest, Althea reassured herself. By the time she felt composed and returned to her seat, their order had just been placed on the table.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"No, you didn’t keep me waiting at all. The food just arrived. Come on, sit down and let’s eat together."
At Siegfried’s usual cheerful smile,
It seems that fluttering feeling was just my imagination after all.
Althea felt a bit relieved and sat down. She said, "Let's eat," and started enjoying the delicious-looking snacks and sweets.
